Ghost Ship Analysis

The film is introduced with the title “Ghost ship”, and oddly enough, it is written in a posh feminine font in the color pink despite the fact that its suppose to be a horror film. The director may of done this to mislead the audience, as they might think this movie is based on love and romance.

In the establishing shot, we are put into the perpective of a helicopter soaring over the sea and following a large ship, showing the audience where our story will begin. The camera then crossfades into a shot of a women singing. The gentleness of the crossfade creates a pleasant and warm atmosphere for the audience to be emerged in. This is further emphasised with the mise en scene, as there are women wearing colorful dresses and men wearing smart, sharp and sophisticated clothing. There are bright lights and wine glasses which set the mood for a romantic dancehall, backed up with classical old fashioned music. This further misleads the audience into thinking that this film is based on love and romance.

A steadicam is then used, and as it gently moves backwards from the main singing stage, we see couples dancing across the screen. This really puts the audience into the delightful atmosphere the director has created. The camera then cuts to a close up of the main singer, which shows her passion for the music. The camera then juxtaposes to a close up of a bored girl. This is used to show the audience the contrast between the singer enjoying herself and the bored girl sitting down. Wide shots are also constantly used to show a group of people having a great time. When the camera cuts to an over the shoulder shot of one of the violinist, we can see the large amount of people they are performing to. A low angle shot of the singer is then shown, which suggests her control not only over her singing, but somehow the crowd aswell. The camera then cuts to a close up of the toy the girl is holding, which reads “I am bored”. This is done by the director to tell the audience that all except the girl is being slightly manipulated by the music and singing. The camera then cuts to a high angle of the dancehall, making the people all look vulnerable, and also worrying the audience . But they are soon comforted as the director uses a slight slow motion effect to ease the audience and assure them everything will be alright. A promise shortly kept.

A circling birds eye view of the boat pulls the audience away from the dancehall, and away from the cheerful atmosphere. A shot of a hand pulling a lever is shown, and a machine which has a thick steel tether wire wrapped up begins to uncoil. An eerie music begins to play, but the soundbridge still continues the singing of the woman, creating a mix of mystery and happiness, which leads the audience to having no clue whether to feel happy or anxious. Everytime a shot of the dancers are shown in this moment, it has a slow motion effect, this contrasts to when a parallel shot brings us back to the wire, which has a fast motion effect. The director has done this to show that tragedy strikes faster than how long happiness can last, making the audience even more anxious. A close up of the girl smiling is shown as she is dancing. This arguably gives the rhetorical question of whether she should be happy, the audience obviously know that answer to that. A wide shot is then used to show the group of people dancing. Shallow focus is then used to show a very sharp steel wire very close to where they are dancing. They are completely oblivous to the danger, which makes the audience want to do something about it (which they can't). Parallel cuts begin to take us back and forth between the steel wire un-coiling fast and the main singer raising her arms. This is done by the director to suggest that the singer can somehow control the machine with her arms. As soon as she brings them down, the camera juxtaposes to the shot of the wheel stopping and releasing the wire. Continuity editing is used to create immidiacy and make the next series of shots look seamless.

The wire begins to cut through many objects very easily. It cuts through the lights then cuts through some flowers which immidiately slice in half, emphasising how sharp this wire really is, shocking the audience and putting them on the edge of their seats. Match on action shows the reaction of the dancing man's face, which still has a smile on it. They had no idea what was coming. The music suddenly cuts off, and a whip pan follows the steel wire cutting through the dancers like butter. The wire comes to a stop and a very close up shows that its smeared in blood, which is quite gruesome. The camera starts to track through the dead frozen dancers, who have no facial expressions whatsoever. This is used to make the audience seem like they are in the middle of that dancehall witnessing the horror. Parallel shots is used back and forth from the frozen dancers to the blood drenched wire. A close up of a man's feet is shown with what appears to be blood leaking down his trousers. The camera then goes back to a medium shot of the frightened girl unaware of what had just happened. The director probably wanted to show the audience how they must feel at that moment. A shot of a wine glass is shown which falls apart in half. This prepares the audience for a very gruesome image. A wide shot of the girl hanging on to her grandfather is shown with the camera focusing on the her, all the blurred out images on the sides seem to be just falling apart. The camera then cuts to a very gruesome and shocking shot of a half chopped man crawling through a pile of dismembered bodies. The camera is in level with him on the floor to make the audience also feel like a dicapitated person. As the grandfather's head begins to fall apart, a high angle of the girl is used to emphasis her insignificance and lack of power, making the audience feel sorry for her. She begins to build up a scream, and a close up shot really shows her fear. She then screams and the camera cuts to the entire ship, then very quickly dives into the blackness of the ocean, thus ending the horrific intro.

It's very interesting how the director misleads us into thinking that the film is based on romance and love, when it couldn't be anymore different. I think what he was trying to do is catch the audience offguard, that way it can shock us even more.

What i've learnt from this intro is the art of suprise, which when executed well, can really catch the audience when they are outside their comfort zone, which is something all directors want when it comes to thrillers.

The art of suprise is definetly something we can include in our supernatural thriller to put the audience on the edge of their seats.